With the 2020 NFL Draft just a week away, it’s time to put out my one and only 7-round mock draft. The COVID-19 epidemic has made things pretty interesting for everyone, but the NFL sees no issue with keeping the draft on schedule, so everyone must forge ahead.
To set the table here, the Raiders come into this draft with 7 selections. They lay out thusly:
Round 1, pick No. 12
Round 1, pick No. 19
Round 3, pick No. 80
Round 3, pick No. 81
Round 3, pick No. 91
Round 4, pick No. 121
Round 5, pick No. 159
General manager Mike Mayock has in the past talked about how much he like picks from 20-60 in the draft. He had three such picks in last year’s draft and ended up grabbing three starters out of it.
As it happens this year he has approximately zero picks from 20 to 60. Which begs the question of whether he will attempt to get a pick in that range. Whether it’s by trading down from the first round, up from third round, or even by trading an existing player on the roster to do it.
As it stands he has the ammo to trade down or to trade up, with two picks in the first round and three in the third. And for this mock draft, I won’t be handcuffing the team by sticking with only the picks they currently have. If I think there’s a good trade to be made, I will make it, just as the Raiders will do when they are on the clock this time next week.
All right, so let’s fast forward past the first 11 picks in this draft and get the Raiders on the clock.
Round 1, pick No. 12 – CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma
I cannot tell you how difficult a choice it was between Lamb and Alabama wide receiver Jerry Jeudy at this pick. Both of whom I have available at this pick. The great thing for the Raiders is, even if I’m wrong, and one of them is gone, they could go with the other and not think twice about it. By the same token, if they went with Jeudy, I could see the sense in that pick as well. Which is what made this such a difficult pick.
Jeudy is more flashy and has drawn comparisons to the likes of Amari Cooper and Antonio Brown – both of whom were at one point billed as the Raiders’ number one receiver, but who both didn’t work out for other reasons outside of pure football talent. But Lamb has been a more steady, dominant presence at receiver in his time at Oklahoma, so I made the call.
What you want to see from a top receiver prospect is consistent progress. Lamb had a standout freshman year with over 800 yards and 7 touchdowns. He jumped to 1158 yards and 11 TDs his sophomore season, and again improved to 1327 yards and 14 TDs as a junior, while improving his yards per catch numbers to an outstanding 21.4 – more than 4 yards per catch ahead of previous seasons.
The Raiders are looking for an X receiver to play across from Tyrell Williams. That’s what Lamb played in Oklahoma’s Air Raid offense. He can get separation both high and low and he can get some serious yards after the catch as well.
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